If a server crashes, there are typically several reasons for this crash, such as losing redundancy on a RAID group; loss of control due to failure of the RAID controller; a drive rebuild that fails (a very common problem); or a physical error with one of the individual hard disk drives. A crashed server is usually going to be a disaster to your business because it will bring all operations to a halt. That’s why we have spent our time doing this type of work. This includes recovering data from Dell, HP, and Lenovo servers and their array configurations, whether physical, RAID or virtualised. In many cases, we can provide a complete system reassembly by mounting the images of each of the disks used in the system. Whether you searched server data recovery or RAID server recovery, the cost of diagnosing the problem is always free. And in most cases, you will never receive a bill unless we successfully recover your data.
The most effective method of losing something you could have recovered would be forcing a rebuild on a degraded server array. Shut down the server. Preserve the drive bay configuration and allow us to make an image prior to writing any data back.
Most server failures result from a secondary failure occurring after an initial failure has gone undetected. A typical case is two disk failures in a RAID 5 configuration: the first goes unnoticed, as there are no obvious issues while the array is still running, and weeks may pass before a second disk fails and the array goes offline. A faulty RAID card or backplane will scramble the array’s metadata, which results in a loss of access to all data. When rebuilding an array, if the disks are placed in the wrong order it could overwrite the parity. In addition, even when an array is operational, if the motherboard dies or the system experiences a power fault, it can render the entire array unusable. None of these can be fixed by the server’s own rebuild; that step is usually what turns a recoverable outage into a permanent one.
We never run the server’s RAID array live. We image each of the member disks individually to our own storage; this includes any disk that the controller has identified as having failed, but which likely still contains the necessary parity for us to read the rest of the data. We can rebuild the array using software, determining the physical ordering of the disks, their striping and parity, manually. Once the array is reconstructed, we can extract individual volumes, databases or virtual machines from that set. Since all work is performed on copies of the original data, if there is an error made during rebuilding there will be no cost associated with correcting that error, and the disks remain unaltered, just like when they were originally received.
We can recover Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, Lenovo ThinkSystem, Supermicro and self-built servers on controllers like Dell PERC, HP Smart Array, LSI/Broadcom or Adaptec. The operating systems can be Windows Server, Linux, VMware ESXi or Hyper-V. Please remove your server’s disk drives and identify each drive by its corresponding bay number; we cannot accept complete servers for recovery. Please tell us what controller is being used since the controller’s configuration is as important as that of the disks themselves.
Generally, if one disk fails in an array of disks, it should still be operational; therefore generally speaking, when there is a complete loss of access to the array, at least one other disk would have also failed or the controller will have failed. We always make a full backup of each disk (including those that failed), and then use this to rebuild the entire array off the hardware. Therefore, in the vast majority of cases we are able to recover the data lost as a result of such an event.
Yes, a dead controller leaves disks that were working fine with no way to get them back to the user, and we use the disks themselves to build up the array again without needing to depend upon the controller. The only thing we need is the disks, taken out of the server and labelled with the bay they originally came out of. Tell us the server and controller model too, to enable us to ensure that everything matches as closely as possible.
No. The most frequent causes of permanent data loss are rebuild failures (i.e., rebuilding an array which has already been damaged) and improper installation/assembly of the disk array (i.e., installing the disk in the wrong order). Shut down your server and let us make an image of each disk before we begin.
Yes, after the underlying disk array has been restored we can then recover all of the VMs, SQL or Exchange databases, etc. you have stored thereon. And if we determine there is a problem with a particular database or VM that will not allow recovery at the same time we are recovering your entire disk array, we can handle that issue as part of the same job.
In the great majority of cases we can say “yes” because whether it’s a RAID failure, or a dead controller, or someone tried to rebuild a RAID on their Dell/HP/Lenovo box without doing it properly, every disk is imaged separately and the RAID array is built virtually from those images. That’s what our emergency track is for.
A free diagnosis first, then a fixed written quote before we start working on your job, and no charge for most jobs if the data does not come back from us. Server and array recoveries will be quoted after we diagnose the problem as the cost is dependent on how many disks there are, where the fault lies etc. But you will always have a fixed fee in writing before any chargeable work is carried out. After receiving your quote, remove the disk(s) from the server or enclosure and bring them to our Leeds office in The Pinnacle (drop-in service, no appointment needed). Alternatively, send them via fully insured postage from anywhere within Yorkshire. Either way they are processed entirely in-house by our own engineers, never sent to third parties.
When the note has been located to be on a server share, we consider the downtime to be our second emergency; the first is ensuring that no other files are being accessed. Our ransomware data recovery team will work on your array in exactly the same manner as you would want it handled safely: isolated first; each disk imaged read-only and then recovering data from decryptors, snapshots and all the data that was missed by the attack. We never pay or negotiate with attackers.
The customer will be searching for server data recovery near me and therefore they are likely going to find us when they’re out of operation. This is why this website leads with the only advice to protect all the data on the server, i.e., shut it down and do not allow anything to begin rebuilding. Every hour of forced rebuilding results in recoverable data being lost.
Once you have a quote you can walk it into The Pinnacle on Albion Street any weekday (no appointment needed); or post it to us fully insured from anywhere within the country. As part of our UK-wide data recovery service, the terms remain unchanged: diagnosis is always free; price will be fixed in writing; and we won’t charge for most jobs unless we succeed.
There is no charge for diagnosing issues; quotes are written as a fixed price and on most jobs there is no service fee charged unless your data is recovered. Do not continue any rebuild process, maintain the original disk configuration and once you’ve received a quote send the disks to our facility: this will preserve any recoverable data.